Postcard from Raymond: The Unseen is the Real

There is a mysterious, imperceptible force from beyond the observable universe yanking our galaxy in a certain and irresistible direction. We can’t stop it.

The cosmic phenomenon known as “dark flow” is controversial, but it describes a flow or peculiar velocity of galaxies towards the Centaurus and Hydra Constellations. The gravitational anomaly called the “Great Attractor” is responsible for this debated flow, and is a concentration of mass tens of thousands of times more gargantuan than our Milky Way galaxy. Yet even the Laniakea Supercluster, which is in that region of the cosmos, does not have enough mass to be able to cause the dark flow.

Dark flow may or may not exist, depending on which astrophysicist you ask. But if it is real, then there is a unique region of space even though conventional cosmology says that all is uniform. It means the cosmos has a gaping irregularity, “a fissure through its firmament,” as stated in a PBS documentary. Some theories suggest that dark flow represents a gravitational tug from mass housed in a region beyond the observable universe, where light can no longer reach us. Indeed, according to NASA’s Goddard Space Center itself, there is a small chance that this mass could be from even “a sibling universe” or a “region of space-time fundamentally different from the observable universe.”

As science dispelled the superstitious and magical over the centuries, we began to think that the visible were the only things that were “real.” That arrogance was before the discovery of the unseen components of dark matter and dark energy, which respectively constitute 26.8 per cent and 68.3 per cent of the entire composition of energy in all of our observable universe. That is a staggering, mind-blowing 95.1 per cent of the universe that cannot be seen and a teeny 4.9 per cent of the cosmos that makes up everything we see and know as “reality.” Add to that the enigmatic dark flow, the possibility of mass beyond our observable universe or even outside the universe itself, and one can only come to one conclusion…

The unseen is far realer than anything we will ever experience with our own senses. We would do well to recall this before we too casually dismiss belief in the unapparent forces of Pure Lands, or mystic contemplation of realms beyond our reach.

Founded in 1995 in Vancouver and based in Hong Kong since 2006, BDG is a multimedia platform providing English-language content on Buddhist teachings, arts, and culture. We accomplish this through features, commentary, and news on the BDG website, as well as publications and other channels.